Burton asks FEC to review Democratic funds

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, October 27) -- The chairman of a House committee investigating allegations of campaign finance irregularities in the 1996 campaign has asked
the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to review whether the Democratic National
Committee (DNC) is hanging on to $1.8 million in suspicious or illegal donations.

Rep. Dan Burton, the chairman of the House Government Reform and
Oversight Committee, sent the FEC a letter asking for the review.

In his letter, Burton (R-Indiana) also identified three contributions to the DNC totalling $45,000 which he now believes are clearly illegal. The letter alleges
three Lippo Group subsidiaries in California gave the DNC installments of
$15,000 in 1993 and then were reimbursed in that amount by the Lippo's bank in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The Lippo group is a conglomerate owned by James Riady, a supporter of
President Bill Clinton. The donations were raised by controversial Democratic fund-raiser John Huang.

In a report released earlier this month, Burton described the funds as
suspicious and lacking enough documentation to conclusively determine their
origins. But congressional sources tell CNN that bank records recently obtained
suggest the donations were illegal.